Fin

The finished product:



The only holes I cut in the case:



Once I enabled the bios option to power on via the spacebar I don't even have to crack the case unless I need to use the optical drive. As this doesn't happen very often I'm quite pleased with how this worked out. I ran a stress test (cpustabtest.exe works the CPU hard in an effort to max out the thermal envelope) while running a defrag and scandisk of separate partitions on the HDD (I could sacrifice the OS install if the machine hung during the stress test) and the max temp of the CPU stabilized at 69 degrees after about 20 minutes and stayed there for 40 minutes until I called off the test. That's a little hot but it was perfectly stable and I'm not really worried about it. If the opportunity presents itself I'll install a better heatsink with more fins but the fit will be tight between the socket and the ducted fan mounted from the lid directly above it. It's not as quiet as I'd like as the CPU fan was repurposed to draw air in from the expansion card slots upstream of the video card and it is no longer speed controlled by the motherboard. Air is also directed by the GPU fan towards the power supply. The power supply fan pulls air through itself before being forced up along the case wall and back over the HDD (mounted under the the optical drive). Finally the air gets a chance to exit the case via the CPU heatsink and associated fan duct. It's a very effective solution but I think I'll source a quiet fan (another SilentX there would bring the installed total to 3) and then I'll be much happier keeping the case on my desk where I can see it but not hear it :).

A great stealth solution. Can't wait for the next LAN party.

Focus

There is nothing like a computer down to galvanize me. I'm not saying thats a purely good thing as sometimes you need to let go but it is good to know what motivates you.

In this case I couldn't post to the blog (easily), check email (while sitting down), play Q4 (at least not at home) or have the satisfaction of knowing this project was going to work out. I'm referring to the BriefCase of course. I made it as far as I could with the old MB as a template before having to commit, tear down the new PC and make sure that all the bits would fit with no interference. That's basically the point of no return as I'd already built that machine once only to pull it apart for this project--I certainly didn't want to do it again just because I wasn't making progress on the new case quick enough. Time to focus.

I forged ahead and am pleased to report that I'm posting from the newly assembled 'portable' workstation. Portable becuase I just took it upstairs all latched up and showed my partner Claire my handywork. She was suitably impressed. Unfortunately I'm now very tired and so won't be pausing to take any pictures of the current state of affairs. That's OK as I'm not actually quite done. I need to mount an exhaust fan somewhere so that it doesn't boil slowly (quickly?) in it's own juices if I were to shut the lid (it's running wide open at the moment.

I did manage to take some in progress pictures last night but was unable to post them. Here they are. You be the judge--did I make good time?

The MB tray in the box:



The donor aluminum case I picked up for $35:



So far the ATX support and drive cages have been pillaged. I'm uncertain if I'll use the power switch assembly but it did come with a ducted fan that looks like it will suit this application well.

I'll post tomorrow when I can prove that it will run safely with the lid latched.

BriefCase

Q4. I knew it had to happen. I tried to prevent it. My existing system could play it and it would still be satisfying -- really! But Q3 just runs so fast now and regardless of how much I'm impressed that Q4 runs faster than D3 on the same hardware my expectations were high and playing on 'medium' just wouldn't cut it. I need to crank it!

Unfortunately (fortunately?) a small amount of good luck, a large amount whimsy, and a healthy (hopefully - see the bit about good luck and think $$) obsession with computing technology resulted in a recent purchase. Some new PC components which when assembled in the right order should result in a fast and appropriately geeky box.

The Recipe:
1 geek who cut his teeth on a 8086, a 286-386 upgrade courtesy of some highjinx at school, a 486 polished further than it deserved, a 586 that said geek was determined to run without a fan, a dually 686 that really reinforced this whole mod fascination (go bp6.com) but is now far to ugly a solution to ever let anyone else touch, an entirely too vanilla K7, and the recent acquisition of an A64 X2.

It had to happen. That BP6 kicked ass 6 ways to Sunday but was a really high maintenance machine. This X2 business makes operating a dual proc machine entirely too easy. I've got an idea. Let's 'take advantage' of the opportunity afforded by a bulk buy on the part of Home Depot and purchase a snazzy aluminum tool case ($20!) and mod it into a pimpin' portable box. Should be quiet too with all that padding :).

The Proof of concept: